Noah Goes To Willamette
by Aura Master Fox
Summary: On the way home from TDWT, Noah ends up trapped in the Willamette Parkview Mall during a zombie outbreak. He must use all of his wits and cunning to discover the cause of the outbreak and make it out alive.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome To Willamette

Noah Goes To Willamette

Chapter 1: Welcome to Willamette

* * *

Noah slumped in the back seat of the helicopter. It wasn't bad enough that Noah barely escaped being engulfed in lava when the volcano erupted at the end of Total Drama World Tour, but now his ride home was a broken-down old helicopter piloted by the icon of evil himself, Chris McLean. To make matters worse, Chris was not exactly the smoothest pilot in the world.

"Enjoying the ride?" Chris called out to Noah, who was clinging to the seat after the helicopter took another sudden swerve to the right.

"I would be much more comfortable if the pilot would pay attention to where he was flying!" Noah shouted back, still holding on to the seat for dear life.

"Okay then!" Chris cheerily responded, completely ignoring what Noah had said. "Hey, remember when you were my assistant?"

"Uh... yeah." Noah was caught off guard by Chris' out-of-the-blue question. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, there's something I need you to do for me. There's this mall that everyone says is pretty cool, the Willamette Parkview Mall. Could you check it out for me? I need a place to do next season, and I think that 'Total Drama Mall' has a pretty good ring to it." Noah scowled at Chris, infuriated at what he had just heard.

"No. No way am I going to be your reconnaissance man so that you can find some new place to torture us." Noah was firm in his response. Chris just smiled.

"Actually, you are." Chris snidely responded. Noah balked at Chris' rebuttal.

"Oh, yeah? And just why am I going to?" Noah waited for Chris to come up with an answer.

"One, because your contract says so, and two, because we're already there." Chris chuckled. He knew that he had Noah beat.

"Stupid contracts..." Noah mumbled under his breath as he sulked in his seat. "If only I'd never... wait a minute, WE'RE ALREADY THERE?" Noah uncharacteristically shouted. Looking out the open door of the helicopter, Noah saw a helipad on the roof of the mall in question a few feet below the helicopter. He began wondering what kind of mall had a helipad in the first place.

"Oh, yeah, don't forget to take pictures." Chris said as he tossed Noah a camera. Noah caught the camera, but lost his balance and toppled out of the helicopter. He fell about five feet and landed flat on his back, camera still clutched to his chest.

"I'll be back in three days, meet me at the helipad!" Chris called out from the cockpit as he lifted off back into the sky. Noah, watched as the helicopter awkwardly flew off into the distance. He lifted himself off the ground, silently thanking his increased pain tolerance from the past couple of years, and checked the camera. Miraculously, the fall hadn't damaged it at all. As Noah dusted himself off, he noticed a man leaning against a wall. As Noah approached the door, the man spoke up.

"_Hola_. Are you with the press?"

"No. I'm being used as a scout against my will by a reality TV host that seriously believes he's the hottest thing on the planet Earth."

The man looked somewhat surprised by Noah's answer. "Sorry to hear that. Anyway, you should have talked your pilot into dropping you off somewhere else."

Noah shrugged. "Well, the egomaniac demanded that I get dropped off here. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

The man turned his head away from Noah and looked off into the horizon. "This place... is hell."

Noah just looked oddly at the man. "Okay then. I'll just be going now." Noah opened the door, but was interrupted by the man speaking once again, without taking his eyes off the clouds.

"My name is Carlito. Remember it."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Noah stepped through the door and closed it behind him. He walked down a set of steel steps and found himself in what appeared to be a security room. He looked at the monitors and saw camera feeds of various stores.

_Well, at least Chris dropped me off at the mall. I was worried that he'd end up bringing me to a chemical plant or something._

Noah noticed from the security footage that the mall seemed quite barren. It was a weekday, wasn't it? Surely the mall was open. Why were there so few people there? Figuring that it was probably some sort of holiday that he had forgotten about, Noah went through the door leading out into the mall.

* * *

Noah found himself in the entrance area of the mall, where he was greeted by an unusual sight. A group of people were barricading the mall's front doors with anything that they could find. One man seemed to be calling the shots, he was middle-aged, overweight, and balding. As Noah walked over to question the group, and elderly woman ran up to him and started crying.

"Oh young man, have you seen my Madonna? Oh my poor, precious little sweetie doggie! Oh, I would just die without her!" With those words, the old lady wandered off to ask other people about her dog. Noah shrugged off that bizarre encounter and addressed the man in charge.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Noah questioned the man. The man walked over to Noah and spoke directly to his face.

"We've gotta block the entrance, son! Otherwise, those zombies are gonna rip us to shreds!" The man's face was deadly serious, while Noah scoffed.

"Okay, did you just say ZOMBIES?" Noah's voice was as sarcastic as ever. He did not believe the man's zombie stories for a second. The man put his hand on Noah's shoulder and pointed to the entrance.

"Okay then. If those aren't zombies, than what would you call them?"

Just outside the doors, a horde of humanoid creatures were gathered in front of the mall. Their flesh was sickly and pale. Their bodies and clothes were splattered with blood. Their eyes were blank and lifeless. They emitted a constant, disturbing moan. Some of them were missing limbs or had cracks in their heads, revealing bits of skull or, in the most disgusting cases, brain. Noah's eyes widened in horror as he made a realization.

"Yep, those are definitely zombies."

"Nothin' to worry about, son," The man immediately responded. "Zombies are stupid and slow. We'll be safe here. We got food and shelter. All we need to do is keep this barricade up. Think you can help?" Noah, with no other plans in his head, accepted the man's offer.

"Yeah, I'll help." Noah was less than ecstatic, but he was all in favor of not being eaten by zombies.

"All right. There's a pile of stuff at the other end of the Entrance Plaza. Grab something and bring it back here." The man commanded. Noah walked to the other end of the Entrance Plaza, wondering to himself how his entire life had gone straight down the tubes within the span of ten minutes.

_Oh, goody. It's like another challenge. But instead of getting voted off when we lose, we get brutally killed by a horde of undead. Fantastic._

As Noah reached the pile, he saw an elderly man walking with the assistance of a cane on the other side of the barrier separating the various areas of the mall. Finding the sight interesting, he took a picture. The old man reacted to the camera flash by hobbling over to the barrier and sticking his cane through one of the gaps, as if he were trying to attack.

"Who are you?" The old man bellowed. "Why have you summoned me to this place?"

Noah was taken aback by the man's incoherent questioning. "What are you talking about, you nut? I didn't summon anyone!" The old man grumbled something to himself and left. Shrugging, Noah picked a flatscreen TV off the pile. Unfortunately, as soon as he began to make his way back to the front doors, a piercing voice echoed across the Entrance Plaza.

"Madonna! Madonna! Mama's coming, sweetie!"

The old woman from before had spotted her dog outside the entrance, and was now removing items from the barricade to open the doors. The others tried to stop her, but she just pushed them out of the way and continued destroying the barricade. After a few items were gone, the doors gave way, and the zombies entered the mall. Amidst everyone's screaming and panicking, a new voice made itself known.

"What in the hell are you people doing?"

Noah looked up at the source of the voice. A large black man in a collared shirt and tie was yelling down at them from the walkway of the floor above.

"Get to the stairs! Come on! Move! Get over here!"

The man's voice was urgent, and Noah figured that it would be best to listen to him. He picked up a 2x4 to defend himself with and made his way to the stairs. As he ran through the Entrance Plaza, he caught fleeting glimpses of the others attempting in vain to fight off the zombies. When he reached the stairs, a zombie rushed directly at him. Noah reflexively swung his 2x4 with both hands, striking the zombie across the face and sending it to the ground, where it lay still. After that terrifying experience, Noah hustled up the stairs and left the Entrance Plaza through the same door from which he had entered.

* * *

Noah reached the security room a bit shaken, but unharmed. In the room, he saw the man from before, a bespectacled blonde woman, and an elderly black man in a mall uniform. The old man began welding the door shut moments after Noah entered.

"Wait! What are you-" Noah objected, but the large man cut him off before he could finish.

"Look, as long as those things are in the mall, we can't use this door." The man seemed very calm as he spoke. Noah, on the other hand, had more questions.

"Oh. So how are we going to get food, then? I highly doubt that there's enough food for all of us here." Noah's snark didn't seem to affect the man at all, who immediately came up with a plan. He walked over to a vent on the wall and opened it.

"We'll use the vents. The zombies aren't smart enough to use the vents, so they're perfectly safe. We can come and go as we please." Noah looked quizzically at the man.

"Vents? Really? So are we living in a heist movie all of a sudden?" The man responded to Noah's irritated comment in the calmest fashion imaginable.

"It's the only way we've got, so we'll just have to live with it. At least until we're rescued." Noah couldn't really argue with that logic, so he just sat down and let the big guy go through the vents. The blonde woman took notice of Noah and tried to speak to him.

"Are you alright?" Was how she started the conversation. Needless to say, Noah was not feeling alright in any sense of the word.

"Oh, I'm just fine. I get dropped off a mall in the middle of nowhere that turns out to be infested with zombies, and now I'm living in a security room with three people I've never met before. Yep, just peachy." The amount of sarcasm in Noah's voice was overwhelming, but the woman was determined to continue the conversation.

"Sorry to hear that." She paused for a moment before introducing herself. "I'm Jessie. The man you saw before was Brad." Noah took a moment to commit their names to memory before responding with his own introduction.

"I'm Noah, and my life has been ruined by reality television."

Jessie let out a little laugh. "Well, Noah, just try to make yourself at home. You're safe for now."

Noah went into the security room hallway and laid down on a bench. He had started the day on what he thought was a trip home, and he was now trapped in a mall that was teeming with zombies. As he lay there, one thought was present in the forefront of his brain.

_I hate you, Chris McLean._


	2. Chapter 2: The First Survivors

Chapter 2: The First Survivors

As Noah lay on the security room bench, he began to get more and more impatient as time went on. Brad was taking way too long to get food. Noah decided that he was going to take matters into his own hands and go out into the mall himself. It may have been a stupid idea, but it had been over six hours since he last ate anything, and hunger can make a guy do crazy things. He walked through the monitor room on his way to the vents, and was questioned by Jessie.

"Where are you going, Noah?" She asked. Noah stopped briefly to give his response.

"Back into the death zone."

Jessie spoke to him from her chair. "Noah, don't you think that seems a bit dangerous? Those zombies won't go easy on you just because you're a kid, you know."

Noah raised an eyebrow as he readied his response. "Listen, lady. I spent about two and a half weeks on a broken-down death trap of an airplane, and was commanded by a total sociopath to further risk life and limb every time the plane stopped. I think I might know a thing or two about surviving in harsh environments."

Jessie smiled at him. "Okay, just don't get in over your head. I can't come running to save you if you do."

"I'll keep that in mind." Noah walked out of the monitor room and headed towards the vent, but was stopped by the security guard from before.

"Whoa there, son. You aren't really thinking about going back out there, are you?" The security guard asked.

"Well, there's nowhere else to go, so I might as well." Noah just looked at the guard and waited to be let through. The guard eventually sighed and reached into his pocket.

"Well, if you've gotta go, then at least take this map of the mall and this transceiver so I can call you if we find anything in here." Otis produced the two items from his pocket and handed them to Noah, who shoved both items into his own pockets.

_Well, these should be useful. _Noah thought to himself as he prepared to enter the vent. He turned his head to ask one final question to the guard.

"Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

The guard chuckled. "It's Otis. Otis Washington."

Noah nodded. "I'm Noah."

With that, Noah ducked into the vent and began his journey into the mall.

* * *

After a little bit of vent-crawling, Noah reached the end of the vent. Annoyingly, the door on this side appeared to be stuck closed despite Brad having gone through earlier. After a few futile attempts to push it open, Noah braced himself against the opposite wall of the vent and kicked the door as hard as he could, busting it open. He slid out of the vent feet first and wiped some sweat from his brow.

_Well, that's one way to make an entrance._

Noah looked at the area around him. The vent had lead him to the roof of the mall. There were no zombies in sight, which was a very welcome occurrence. As he dismounted from the small ledge that led to the vent, he heard a man's voice cry out.

"**HELP!"**

Alarmed, Noah jogged in the direction of the voice. He turned a corner and found an elderly man wielding a golf club looking around frantically. The man noticed him and quikly ran up to him, panting as he began to speak.

"Have you seen my wife, Natalie?" The man demanded. Noah backed a couple of steps away, still not quite sure what to make of the man.

"Calm down, I haven't seen your wife. Where did you last see her?"

"I don't know. I lost sight of her while we were escaping." The man's voice was very frantic and worried. Noah, cynical as he is, couldn't just leave the guy there.

"Okay, I'll help you look for your wife. That sound good to you?"

"Oh, yes! Thank you, young man!" The man was overjoyed. "I'm Jeff Meyer, by the way."

Noah raised an eyebrow before responding. "My name's Noah. Follow me, and I'll help you look for your wife." He sighed as he began to walk across the roof, Jeff following closely behind him.

_What's with all the random introductions today?_

As Noah reached the other side of the roof, a woman came into view. She appeared to be around the same age and body type as Jeff. He pointed to the woman and asked, "Hey, Jeff, is that your wife over there?"

Jeff looked up, smiled wide, and started running. "NATALIE!"

The woman looked back at Jeff. "Jeff? JEFF!" She also began running towards her spouse. The two met in the middle of the rooftop and hugged. Noah watched them for a moment in disbelief.

_How could they not find each other if they were on opposite sides of the freaking roof? Some people..._

Noah walked up to the happy couple and tapped Jeff on the shoulder. "Yeah, I know that you're in the middle of a heartwarming reunion, but if you want to be safe, then I know a good place."

"You can save us?" Jeff looked astonished. "But you're just a kid!"

Noah glared at Jeff. "I may be 'just a kid', but I can get you out of here. Besides, you're in a mall filled with zombies. Do you really have any other choice?"

Jeff thought about Noah's words for a moment. "You're right, son. Come on, Natalie, let's follow the boy."

* * *

Noah led Jeff and Natalie to the air duct, and the three of them crawled through, eventually emerging in the security room. Noah was the first one through the duct opening, and he called out to Otis as he entered the room.

"Hey Otis, any room in here for two more?"

"What do you mean, two more?" Otis watched in surprise as Jeff and Natalie followed Noah out of the air duct. "Whoa! Where'd you find these two?"

Noah shrugged. "They were looking for each other on the roof. I reunited them. No big deal."

Otis chuckled. "Well, ain't you a saint!" He turned to Jeff and Natalie. "Okay, you two, you can stay in one of the rooms in the back until we get this all sorted out."

As Jeff and Natalie began to head for the back of the security room, Noah caught sight of the golf club still in Jeff's hand. He could probably do a pretty good job fending off zombies with it, and it would certainly be easier to grip than that 2x4 he used earlier. Realizing this, he called out to the older man.

"Hey, Jeff! Can I have that club?"

Jeff looked at the golf club in his hand. "You mean this old thing? Sure! I don't need it now that I'm safe, anyhow." He handed the club to Noah, who held it in both hands as he examined it.

_Hmm... looks pretty light, but the head should have a nice impact. Pretty good reach, too. This will be good for now._

Once Jeff and Natalie left, Noah looked back at the duct. He still hadn't gathered any food, and he was getting hungrier by the minute. Not to mention, they would need even more food now that he had gathered more survivors.

"Otis, I'm going back in. Call me if anything comes up." Noah seemed determined in his mission to raid the mall's food supply. Otis just smiled.

"Go get 'em, kid. And if you find anyone else, feel free to bring 'em back here, all right?"

Noah gave a thumbs up and returned to the ducts, golf club in hand. He was now ready to face the zombie hordes.

At least... he hoped he was.


	3. Chapter 3: Noah's Got a Gun

Chapter 3: Noah's Got a Gun

Noah climbed out of the duct once he reached the rooftop. Once he planted his feet on the ground, he took a few practice swings with his golf club, using it as one would a baseball bat. He hoped that it would come in handy for the journey ahead. He looked around to make sure that nobody else was in the area.

_No zombies. No crazed gunmen. No old people looking for their significant other who is less than 100 feet away. Perfect._

Near the spot where he found Natalie, he discovered a door. He went through the door and found himself in some sort of warehouse. He closed the door behind him and proceeded with caution. However, before he could even get two steps away from the door, the transceiver that Otis had given him began to emit a beeping noise, indicating an incoming call. Noah picked it up in his off hand and answered. "Hello?"

"Noah?" The voice of Otis came through the transceiver. "Once you get through the warehouse, you'll be in the mall. Be careful out there, because those things don't look too friendly."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I kind of figured that out once they started biting people." He looked around the warehouse. He was standing atop one of many tall shelves in the room. Various items were scattered around.

"Anyway, be sure to check your map often so that you don't get lost. We may be watching, but for the most part, you're on your own out there. Good luck, kid." Otis finished and the message cut off. Noah stuffed the transceiver back into his pocket and walked to the edge of the shelf. It was a long drop, so Noah decided to find a smarter way down rather than take a suicidal leap.

He threw his golf club to the ground and climbed down after it. He went slowly as to not miss a step and fall to the ground as a result. After around half a minute he reached the ground and retrieved his golf club. He examined it for any damage from the fall.

_Ugh, scratched the head. Well, it was going to happen sooner or later..._

Noah made his way down the small hallway leading to the rest of the mall. As he rounded the corner, he heard footsteps behind him. He tightened his grip on the golf club and inched over to the bend in the hallway, which was the source of the noise.

_Zombies... It's about time I field tested this thing anyway._

Noah jumped out from behind the corner while swinging the golf club as hard as he could. To his horror, there was not a zombie around the corner, but Jessie instead. Fortunately, she staggered backwards, causing the club to miss her and hit the wall. Unfortunately, however, Jessie wrenched her ankle in the fall and fell to the ground. Noah called out to Jessie.

"Sorry, I thought you were a zombie. What the heck are you doing down here, anyway?"

Jessie struggled to get to her feet, but she had much difficulty doing so. "Brad's in trouble. I saw him fighting with someone over the monitors. I was coming down to help."

Noah felt a twinge of guilt knowing that he had come very close to braining her with the golf club. "So... can you still go, or..."

Jessie tried once again to get to her feet, but could not stay up. "Ugh... my ankle..." Noah felt that he was about to say something stupid, but made no attempt to stop himself.

"I'll go help Brad."

Jessie looked at him strangely. "Are you sure? I mean, no offense, but you're just a kid, and all you've got is a golf club. It's not even metal. You can't expect to do much damage with it."

Noah looked at the golf club in his grip. The head was slightly dented from the impact with the wall. _Ugh, she's right. This thing won't do crap against a zombie, let alone some nutjob._

Jessie thought about Noah's proposition for a moment. "Well, if you insist on going, then at least take this." She held out her handgun to Noah. "Ever fired one of these before?"

Noah looked at the weapon in shock. "Of course I've never shot a gun! I'm 17, for crying out loud! Do I look like a hunter?"

Jessie sighed. "Well, looks like you're just going to have to learn. The safety's on the side. It's off right now, but be sure to turn it on when you're not using it. Just use both hands to aim the gun, and pull the trigger with your finger to shoot." She pointed out all of the gun's functions.

Noah plucked the gun from Jessie's hands. "Yeah, yeah, I've seen the movies." He found the safety on the side of the gun and flicked if off before sticking it in his pocket like an improvised holster. He smiled and patted the gun in his pocket.

_This'll come in handy later._

Noah looked back at Jessie, then at the large shelf that he had climbed down in order to reach the floor. "So... how exactly are you planning to get back to the security room?"

"Oh, I'm just going to take the elevator, same way I came in." Jessie responded.

Noah looked puzzled. "Elevator?"

Jessie pointed into the warehouse. "It's right over there. You just have to walk between those shelves to get to it." Jessie turned back towards Noah and cocked her head. "How did you get down here?"

Noah looked at the shelf again, deciding not to mention his death-defying climb. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Jessie managed to pick herself up, despite her injury. "Okay then, I should probably get back to the security room now. Brad's in the Food Court. Please hurry. I'm not sure how long he can hold out." She limped away before Noah could think of anything else to say. Noah took out his map and sighed irritably.

_Of course there's an elevator. I almost die climbing a twenty-foot shelf, and I could have just taken the elevator._

Noah found the Food court on the map. It was all the way across the mall from where he was. Since he didn't want to waste ammo for the gun, and the golf club was totally useless, he began to look around the warehouse in an attempt to find another weapon. He found a pipe that seemed much more sturdy that the crappy golf club, so he took it and ditched the golf club. He also found a toolbox, which he assumed would probably have a hammer or a screwdriver in it, but was locked tight. With a weapon in each hand and a gun in his pocket, Noah marched out of the warehouse and into Paradise Plaza.


	4. Chapter 4: High Noon at the Food Court

Chapter 4: High Noon at the Food Court

Noah stepped into Paradise Plaza and was greeted by the sight of zombie hordes prowling the mall. The pathways were loaded with zombies wandering aimlessly in search of food. The weapons in Noah's hands would be fine for dealing with a couple small groups, but with an infestation of this magnitude, he would need to find a way to arm up, and fast.

He ducked into the first store he could find, a camera store called Cam's Camera. He searched around the small store for a few moments before looking behind the counter and finding an item of particular interest. He smiled and lifted a large camera bag onto the counter. Its size showed that it was clearly meant to carry a lot of film equipment, and that size would allow Noah to carry a lot of things at once.

_Well happy birthday to me._

Noah placed his pipe and toolbox on the counter and began to unzip the bag. As he did so, he heard a moaning sound behind him. When he turned around, he made the unpleasant discovery that a zombie had wandered into Cam's Camera while he had been fiddling with the bag. The zombie noticed Noah, and started to shamble towards him. Running on instinct, Noah grabbed the first thing he could, which was the toolbox, and swung it at the zombie's head. It impacted the zombie's skull with a sickening crack, and the zombie crumpled to the ground.

Noah breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the dead zombie. When he placed the toolbox back on the counter, however, he noticed something very interesting. Namely, the act of bashing it against the zombie's head caused the latch on it to become loose. Looking over his shoulder to make sure that no other zombies were coming towards the store, Noah opened the toolbox in anticipation of what tools would be inside for him to use on the shambling hordes. Once he opened the toolbox, however, his anticipation turned to puzzlement as he laid eyes on the contents.

Contained inside the toolbox was two circular sawblades.

_This is… not what I expected…_

Noah looked at the sawblades in disbelief for a moment before carefully taking one of them out of the box and holding it like a discus. He knew that it would be totally useless in melee combat, so why not try throwing it? He positioned his feet in a discus-throwing stance and took a moment to line up his aim. After a few seconds, he flung the sawblade through the air. It wobbled as it threw, indicative of his poor form, and haphazardly got stuck in a palm tree. A zombie took notice of the sawblade in the tree and looked at it, clearly surprised by the new development. Noah looked at the zombie and picked the other sawblade out of the toolbox.

_Now let's try this again._

Noah lined himself up again and threw the second sawblade. This one flew much straighter, and did not deviate from its course, half-embedding itself in the zombie's neck. The zombie made a loud gurgling noise that Noah could hear from the camera store before collapsing lifelessly to the ground. Noah shuddered at the sound and visual of the zombie's disturbing re-death.

_Well, I guess I was going to have to get used to it eventually._

Steeling his nerves, he zipped the camera bag back up and gripped the pipe in his hand. He checked his map to find the Food Court, and it turned out that is was right across from the Paradise Plaza. All he had to do was take a walk through a large park area called Leisure Park. Noah nodded as he stuffed the map back into his pocket with the transceiver and stepped out of Cam's Camera.

Noah made his way through Paradise Plaza with caution, avoiding the zombies whenever he could, and smacking them with the pipe when he couldn't. After one particular zombie lunged at him and got a pipe to the nose for its trouble, he noticed a knife clatter from its undead hands to the floor.

_Wait a second, did that zombie just try to stab me?_

Noah hurriedly picked up the knife and ran to an area the zombies weren't patrolling to place it in his bag. He wasn't the type of person to pass up a perfectly good weapon in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, after all. He slung the bag back across his back and continued his sprint across Paradise Plaza. Once he reached the door (and gave a couple more zombies a faceful of pipe), he took a moment to catch his breath before stepping outside into Leisure Park.

_Hm. Leisure Park, huh? Sounds nice. Maybe I can relax for a bit from all this zombie mess._

* * *

_I should have known better_

Leisure Park, just like Paradise Plaza, was overrun by zombies. Fortunately, however, the zombies weren't as tightly packed together as they were in Paradise Plaza. As Noah dashed across Leisure Park in order to get to the Food Court, he started to get tired from all the running. After all, he wasn't exactly the athletic type. He made his way over to a small picnic area, where there was an untouched 12-pack of sodas on one of the tables. He grabbed a can out of the box and popped the tab. He took a large sip and flinched as his mouth burned from the carbonation.

_Ugh, I hate this brand. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers._

Noah crumpled the can and tossed it into the trash can. A couple zombies had followed him into the picnic area, so he jumped onto the table with the 12-pack of soda and started chucking soda cans at the shamblers. Noah found that a full soda to the face deals a surprising amount of damage to a lumbering undead humanoid, and the zombies fell with a few cans left over. Noah placed the remaining cans in the bag. He certainly wasn't going to drink them, but chances were someone in the security room would.

With his new stock of sodas in tow, Noah made his way to the entrance of the Food Court. Unfortunately, just like everything else that had happened thus far, there was a complication. In particular, there was a small army of zombies completely blocking the doors to the Food Court. They seemed to be ignoring him at the moment, so this gave him some time to think up a plan. He spied a lawnmower near the doors and went to go check it out. He had one idea involving the lawnmower, but it was very risky, and even if it worked, could still end with him being eaten by zombies. Unfortunately, it was also the only plan he had.

Noah grabbed the handle of the lawnmower and stood firmly in place. He reached for the pull cord to start the engine and grasped it tightly.

_Well, here goes nothing._

He pulled the cord and the lawnmower's engine started with a roar. The zombies by the doors stopped uselessly clawing at the glass and turned their attention to the very loud lawnmower. Noah slowly backed away with the lawnmower, being very careful to make sure there were no zombies behind him. The zombies that had been blocking the food court were now coming to investigate the mower, leaving Noah with the precise opportunity that he needed. Once he had led the horde a decent ways away from the doors, he sprung the second part of his plan into action. He released his grip on the mower, shutting off the engine, and made a break for the door.

_Come on, feet, don't fail me now!_

Noah sprinted to the Food Court doors. The zombies noticed him as soon as the mower's power shut off, but he could run much faster than they could hobble. A few zombies attempted to sprint, but it was to no avail, and Noah reached the doors easily. He pushed through the doors and ran directly into the Food Court.

* * *

As Noah arrived in the Food Court, he was immediately greeted by the sound of gunfire. On the pathway in front of the large wild west-themed Food Court sign, he saw a familiar-looking Latino man with as assault rifle firing away. Noah dove behind the nearest wall to avoid his shots.

_I swear I've seen this guy before._

As Noah looked up, he saw Brad, the large man from before, hiding behind a low wall and taking pot shots with his handgun whenever he heard a pause in the gunfire. Noah scampered over to Brad, who seemed shocked to see him in such a dangerous situation.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded under his breath. He would have appreciated backup, but not in the form of a 17-year-old boy with little to no muscle tone to speak of.

"Your girlfriend sent me to make sure you don't get killed." Noah replied. He knew that now wasn't exactly the time to have a smart mouth, but he was NOT happy about trudging across a zombie-infested courtyard and having to distract zombies with a lawnmower only to get chewed out by the guy he was sent to meet.

"What? Jessie sent you?" Brad seemed surprised by this revelation. "Why didn't she come if she was worried?"

"Twisted ankle." Noah said dismissively. "Now you've got me to back you up, so you had better have one hell of a plan."

Brad put his head down and thought for a moment, trying to figure out how he could fight off and assault rifle-wielding lunatic with only a handgun and an untrained teenager. "…This is breaking so many regulations..." He muttered under his breath before turning to Noah again. "Okay, can you use a gun?"

Noah pulled the handgun that Jessie had given him out of his pocket. "Nope, but I've been instructed on how to do it." Noah could see Brad's face droop as he realized just how screwed they were.

"…Okay…" Brad said, trying to hide his disappointment. "Look, the next time this guy reloads, I'm going to lay down a suppressing fire. Now, when that happens, I need you to shoot him."

Noah was taken aback by the sudden demand for him to commit murder. "What? You already have a gun, and you have a lot more training than I do! Why don't you just shoot him while you're doing your 'suppressing fire?' Why do I have to get involved here?"

"Because I've already tried to shoot him." Brad admitted. "I don't have enough time to get a good shot in before he gets a shot off at me. With me distracting him, you might have enough time to aim and get a shot on him. It's our only chance to take this guy down."

Noah, still completely unconvinced of Brad's plan, just nodded. There had been bursts of gunfire every few seconds while they had been talking, and frankly, it was really beginning to irritate him. Besides, Noah could help Brad, who seemed to be some kind of cop at the very least, stop a clear menace to society. That could count as his good deed for the day. Well, technically he could count saving the old couple on the roof as his good deed for the day, but unless they were colossally stupid then they would have found each other without his help within five minutes, so he didn't count that.

"Okay, just tell me when to go."

Brad nodded at Noah and listened for the man to start firing again. Once he heard the gunfire he counted down. "Okay, three… two… one…GO!" Brad's 'GO!' synced up perfectly with the assault rifle's stream of bullets stopping. Brad stood up to fire at the man, while Noah ran to another corner of the wall they had been using as cover. Once he was in position, he stood up to deliver a shot of his own. Noah aimed and pulled the trigger. A deafening gunshot was heard.

*BANG*

_Crap, I missed!_

Noah ducked down before he could be shot and ran to another area of the wall. He waited for the rifle to stop firing again, and stood up to retaliate when he heard Brad's distraction shots. He took careful aim again and depressed the trigger a second time.

*BANG*

_No! Not again!_

Another shot wasted. Noah ducked back down once again and moved to a new position. He went through the waiting cycle once more, going up for a shot when he heard Brad's gun. He aimed and fired a third time.

*BANG*

_Oh, for the love of…_

Another miss. Noah was getting really tired of this so he came up with a new strategy. Since he kept moving, he had to keep readjusting his aim depending on what angle he was shooting from. This time, however, he decided to just stay in one place and see what happens. When Brad fired his gun once again, Noah stood up for his fourth shot. Fortunately, the man hadn't moved since the last time Noah looked up, and Noah was much quicker on the draw this time. He took aim and fired once more.

*BANG*

The man recoiled and dropped his gun. Noah had done it. The bullet hit the mad right in the shoulder. Noah clicked the safety on his gun and twirled it before putting it back into his pocket. He was pretty sure that Brad could take things from here.

"Wait a moment, stop!" Brad's booming voice made itself known across the Food Court.

Noah sighed. _Of course things have to get complicated._

When Noah looked at the thing that had caught Brad's attention, however, he was in for quite a shock. The man that he had shot was running across the walkway as though nothing had happened. Despite Brad's shouting at him to stop, the man continued to run until he reached a rope, which he grabbed on to and rode up towards the ceiling. It was not until that moment that Noah realized where he had seen this man before. The scene played in his mind, perfectly remembered thanks to Noah's impressive memory.

* * *

_"My name is Carlito. Remember it."_

* * *

_Carlito…_ Noah recalled the man's name. Clearly, Carlito was not on their side. How anyone could wage such a fierce battle against another person in a crisis situation such as this was lost on Noah. The situation was just too surreal.

"Dammit. He's gone." Brad grumbled. "How could a man just shrug off a gunshot like that? It's impossible!"

"Maybe he's immortal." Noah responded sarcastically. Brad did not take very kindly to this.

"Okay, kid. You might have helped me out back there, but from your attitude and inexperience, it's pretty clear that I do not need any more of your help." Brad was irate, partially due to Noah's attitude, and partially due to Carlito getting away. "So you can just run along back to the security room, and let the big boys worry about the zombies."

Noah shrugged and pulled out the camera Chris had given him. At this point, the only picture he had was of the old man at the Entrance Plaza. He viewed the picture, looking for anything that could convince Brad to let him keep working on the case of the zombies. He read mystery books all the time growing up, and he wasn't going to let a real-life mystery slip through his fingers.

Fortunately, Brad caught sight of the picture Noah was viewing, and was immediately interested. "Where did you take that? Give it here!" Noah, realizing that this was how he could use this to get Brad to let him help, smirked and held the camera away from the larger man.

"Oh, so now you're interested, huh? Maybe we can work something out."

Brad looked at the teen in disbelief. "Work something out? What do you mean?"

Noah's smirk grew. "I'll show you the picture, but only if you let me help figure out where the zombies are coming from."

Brad looked at him as though he were crazy. "Are you kidding? You're just a kid! You'll die out there! There is no way I'm letting you help."

Noah feigned a sigh. "Well, I guess I'll just have to spike this camera to the floor, that way no one will ever see what's on the film…" Noah lifted the camera above his head, as though he were about to slam the camera against the ground.

"Wait!" Brad shouted to Noah. Noah stopped and looked at him. Brad muttered something to himself about "breaking regulations" again, but finally relented. "Okay, kid, you can help. Just let me see the camera." Noah held out the camera for Brad to look at the picture. Brad seemed to recognize the man right away. "I knew it."

"What? What did you know?" Noah inquired. "In fact, who are you, anyway? You have a gun and are always talking about 'regulations', so I don't think you're just some random guy who happened to be here today!" Brad sighed. He had a feeling that Noah wouldn't leave him alone until he got an answer.

"Fine, kid, I'll tell you if that'll make you happy. My name's Brad, and me and Jessie are DHS agents. We've been looking for that guy for a while.

Noah seemed surprised at this revelation. "Jessie already told me your name, but… The Department of Homeland Security? Why are you looking for that old guy? Is he some kind of terrorist?"

Brad shook his head. "No… no he's not, but we need to find him fast. You'd better know how to fight zombies, kid, because you're gonna be seeing a lot of them from here on out."

Noah grabbed the pipe from his bag. "Not a problem. I've been getting some practice." Brad just cocked his gun and walked towards a group of doors under a large sign reading "Al Fresca Plaza."

_Well, that was real polite._

Noah ran after him, pipe in hand. "And you can stop calling me kid, you know! My name is Noah!"


End file.
